Loop spreader for lacing machine



Dec. 13, 1960 P. SPARKES 2,963,721

LOOP SPREADER FOR LACING MACHINE Filed July 23, 1957 INVENTOR.

United States Patet lt O LOOP SPREADER FOR LACING MACHINE PhilipSparkes, Boston, Mass, assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation,Boston, Mass., a corporation of New Jersey Filed July 23, 1957, Ser. No.673,654

4 Claims. (Cl. 12-585) This invention relates to shoe upper lacingmachines of the type having a series of lacing needles for inserting aseparately fastened strand through each pair of eyelets in a folded shoeupper. The upper is applied to the series of needles which act to carrythe upper into operating position in the machine and which thereafterare reciprocated and alternately moved in different directions to loop aseparate strand of cord through each pair of eyelets and then to form alocking loop for the previously form loop. l

In order to take the loop from the needles and retain it in the path ofthe needles during the next reciprocation and then cast off these loopsand engage the newly presented loops on the needles, two sets of hooksare provided, one set being arranged to engage and spread a needle loopduring reciprocation in one direction and the other set of hooks beingarranged to engage and spread the loop in the opposite direction.

The loop spreader heretofore employed in machines of this type have beendiflicult and costly to manufacture, prone to damage in operation of themachine, difficult to remove and expensive to replace. The arms of thespreader frequently get bent in use. This occurs if the eyelets of theupper are not located in alignment so that the needle springs out of itsproper course and bends or breaks one of the hooks in which an arm ofthe spreader terminates. Since in practice the hooks must be hardened toresist wear in operation, the danger of breakage is increased.

The loop spreader of the present invention comprises a yoke havingdefined seats therein which accurately locate separate hookedstrand-engaging arms, together with means for detachably securing thearms in place so that in case of damage to either arm that individualarm may be removed and replaced. Important economies consequently resultboth in the cost of manufacturing the spreader and in servicing themachine since the yoke which is the principal member of the spreader mayremain permanently in its proper position in the machine and either oneor both of the hooked arms may be quickly and conveniently replacedwithout disturbing the yoke itself.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood andappreciated from the following description of a preferred embodimentthereof selected for purposes of illustration and shown in theaccompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation showing the spreader and associatedparts on an enlarged scale,

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the spreader as seen from beneath, or as swunginto reverse position,

Fig. 3 is a view showing the parts of the spreader in exploded relation,

Fig. 4 is a similar view in side elevation, and

Fig. 5 is an end view thereof.

Secured in the frame of the machine is an outwardly projecting carrierbar 10, channel shaped in cross-section and having a pair of loop takerarms 11 and 12 formed Patented Dec. 13, 1960 as a part thereof andprojecting downwardly into hookshaped ends 14 and 15 as seen in Fig. 1.The arms 11 and 12 extend also upwardly from the bar and furnishbearings for the loop spreader shaft 13 which extends in parallelrelation to the carrier bar 10. A torsion spring 13', shown at its lefthand end, holds the shaft 13 and the parts carried thereby normally inoperative position as shown in Fig. 1. One of the needles 16, itsassociated measuring finger 17 and a cooperating pair of shoe upperclamps 18 are shown in Fig. 1 in their operative relation to the looper.The parts heretofore described may be identical with the correspondingparts of upper lacing machines now in wide use and as shown in fulldetail, for example, in United States Letters Patent No. 2,106,320,January 25, 1938, Fossa.

As best shown in Figs. 3-5 the loop spreader of the present inventioncomprises a yoke-shaped member 26 having two forks which aretransversely perforated at 21 to receive the loop spreader shaft 13. Thelonger fork of the yoke is provided with a threaded aperture 22 toreceive a cone-pointed adjusting screw 23 and the shorter fork isdrilled longitudinally and tapped to receive a setscrew 24' by which theyoke is securely fastened to the shaft 13 so as to rock with it. In thetransverse connecting bridge 20' of the yoke are formed seats formatingly receiving the hooked arms 26 and 27 of the loop spreader andthese seats are formed in part by transverse shoulders 25 at the base ofthe forks. The connecting portion of the yoke takes the form of a wideflat bridge 20, and as shown in Figs. 3 and 5, its under surface isoffset inwardly thereby reducing the thickness of the bridge as comparedto the thickness of the two forks and of the seats for thestrand-engaging arms 26 and 27. Each seat is drilled and tapped toreceive screws 26 or 27 and each of the spreader arms 26 and 27 isshaped to make an interlocking fit with its own seat. For that purposeeach of the arms is enlarged at its inner end and has a substantiallysquare base of substantial area with a straight upper edge contactingthe shoulder 25 and stepped to coincide with the contour of the yoke.Each base is counter-sunk to receive the head of its attaching screw.Preferably the hooked strandengaging arms 26 and 27 are formed ofberyllium bronze and while this has proved to be eminently satisfactory,any suitable metal may be employed.

Between the hooked arms of the spreader is located a point locatingplate 19. This is mounted to rock upon the shaft 13 and its position isadjustably determined by the seating of the adjusting screw 23 whichbears against the tail of the plate 19 where it projects beyond theshaft 13. The inwardly offset surface of the bridge 20' above referredto forms in effect a wide shallow channel in the face of the bridgeopposite that to which the hooked arms are secured and furnishes theclearance for the point locating plate or bar 19. It will be apparentfrom an inspection of Fig. 2 that either one of the strand-engaging arms26 or 27 of the loop spreader may be conveniently detached and removedfrom the yoke 20 without in any way disturbing the position of the yokeor an undamaged hooked arm. Convenient access is provided to the headsof the screws 26' and 27' when the yoke 20 is swung with the shaft 13into its reverse or inoperative position as shown in Fig. 2. Here theheads of the screws are fully exposed and easily reached by a screwdriver. This is an important advantage in servicing a machine ascomplicated as the lacing machine dealt with herein. In servicing themachine all that is required is a supply of the right and left hookedarms 26 and 27 produced by conventional process of standardinterchangeable manufacture. While the heads of the screws 26' and 27'are exposed in the inoperative position of the yoke they are concealedwhen the yoke is swung into its operative position so they are notlikely to be tampered with by the operator.

Having thus disclosed my invention and described in detail a preferredembodiment thereof, I claim as new and desire to secure by LettersPatent: i V i V e 1. An improved loop spreader for lacing machineshaving a yoke mounted to be reversed from operative to inoperativeposition in the machine, characterized in that the yoke has spaced forksconnected by a flat bridge having defined seats thereon formed in .partby transverse shoulders at the base of the forks of. the yoke at eachend of the bridge, in combination with replaceable hooked right and leftstrand-engaging arms having rectangular bases fitting said. seats withedges shaped to engage with said shoulders and accurately locate thestrand-engaging arms on the yoke, together with a separate screw foreach arm securing it in place on the yoke and having its head exposed toView only when the yoke is rocked into its inoperative position andconcealed when the yoke is rocked into its operative position. a

2. An improved loop spreader as described in claim 1, furthercharacterized in that the bridge of the yoke is offset inwardly in itsouter surfaceand reduced in thickness as compared to the thickness ofthe seats for its strand-engaging arms.

3. An improved loop spreader for lacing machines having a yoke mountedto be reversed from operative to inoperative position in the machine,characterized in that the yoke has spaced forks connected by a flatbridge having defined seats thereon formed in part by transverseshoulders at the base of the forks of the yoke at each end of thebridge, in combination with replaceable hooked right and leftstrand-engaging arms having their inner ends enlarged and formingsubstantially square attaching areas with edges fitting the shoulders ofthe said yoke 'and accurately locating the said arms on the yoke,together with a separate screw for each arm securing it in place on theyoke and having its head exposed to view only in one position of theyoke.

4. An improved loop spreader as described in claim 3, furthercharacterized in that the bridge of the yoke is provided with a Widechannel disposed symmetrically between the forks of the yoke and in theface of the bridge opposite to that to which the hooked arms aresecured.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSHeilman et a1 Dec. 17,

